The fuzzy noise of children's laughter slowly became clear as the memory snapped into place. It was the clearest dream I had ever had; I could feel everything. Cold air that slightly bit my skin as it breezed past. I could smell the trees, the grass, and the smell of dinner being cooked over the fire. Smoke billowed in several places around the village where the families were warming their homes. The children's laughter grew louder as they and my brother, Cai, ran towards my hiding place in a tall tree on the edge of the village. It was a beautiful oak that cast a large shadow across the field behind my home.

The kids always wanted me to play with them and that afternoon I told them I would. As they approached where I was hiding, I climbed to a more covered part in the tree so they wouldn't discover where I was. The goal of the game was simply to find me, because I was great at hiding in our limited area. They never looked in the right places, and I would win. It would get boring so I would make it a bit easier and give myself away. Maybe jump down and scare one of them or throw rocks to distract them so I would run.

"Where are you?" a few would shout at me. The woods were scary to them and they were afraid to venture in there, but they always expected me to take cover in the trees. Some would dare to check in the woods and they would rustle through the bushes and call out to me saying, "Hello?"

Hello? A voice in my mind pulled me from my dream. It was comforting and prevented me from panicking as I woke from my dream. Then it called out again, Is there anyone out there?

I was disoriented, but I managed to reply, Yes. I'm over here. I was suddenly able to feel my body and shooting pain went up from my toes to the top of my head. Never mind the strange voice that infiltrated my mind, everything hurt and throbbed and I felt very alone. I peeled open my eyes to the new, white hot world I was in and felt nothing but sorrow. The physical pain couldn't compare to the pain I felt inside of me. It rushed around my body like the feeling of lightning striking every inch of me. Panic flooded through me at the thought of my family being gone. Seeing the lifeless hand in the rubble replayed over and over in my head. The hand had life, but its life had been taken from it. Although it could have been another person in there, beneath my home. Here I was, trapped with them in the wreckage of my life.

My vision was blurry when opening my eyes but I saw a figure, not far away. He was running towards me and he was running fast. The figure had spotted me and it sent me into a panic to just get moving, go somewhere safe. Scrambling amongst the rubble didn't do much for me. My body was too weak to move on its own. I just managed to move some charred bits of wood around and make my limbs ache even more than they already did. Parts of my body were burned, but other than that, my body appeared to be fine. I was still in pain and lacking the energy to move.

"Hello?" The figure was at the edge of the burned home. I could clearly see it was a young man. Dark hair roughly covered the top of his head and his behavior was friendly. The clothes he wore weren't anything special so he wasn't a soldier, knight, or someone else I wouldn't appreciate. The way he presented himself was trusting and I could hardly move, so I responded with a moan. "Don't move. I'm coming to get you."

I never took my gaze off of him as things began to shift allowing him to make his way to me. When he did, he looked around where I was and was in shock. Astonishment filled his face and filled my stomach with dread, for reasons unknown to me. Forgetting I was at his feet, he was stuck on the area around me, that I was unable to see because I couldn't move my head. After a minute, I was able to mutter out a word to remind him of my presence, "What?"

"Oh… right," he responded. He leaned next to me, his face pale and hesitated for a second before putting his arms under me and lifting me off of the ground. It hurt, but it felt better than the planks of wood I had been resting on. He was kind of nervous holding me in his arms and they slightly shook under my weight. He made his way around the burned homes that I would pass by each day. They were burned to a crisp, destroyed, and they each had a small bit of smoke rising from them.

"They're all gone," I whispered in awe as we walked. He looked down at me and then clenched his jaw, obviously having something he wished to keep from me. "Who else survived?"

He looked down at me and gently said, "We haven't found anyone else." I was speechless. Possibly, I was the only survivor from the entire village. All of those kids and families that were living happy lives in a safe place were attacked and slaughtered. My mother and Cai… they had suffered the same fate. How did I survive?

"Merlin!" A man's voice shouted, interrupting my thoughts and bringing me back to the world of the living. "You found someone?"

The young man… Merlin... glanced down at me and then back up in the direction of the voice. He then yelled back, "I found her passed out in the bushes at the other side. We need to get her back to Gaius."

What? He lied. What was there to hide? I was laying in rubble, what was wrong with that?

The same voice from before replied inside my head, making me slightly jump, I'll explain later. Let me get you to safety first and let me do the talking. Arthur might get suspicious.

Suspicious of what? Wait.. are you talking to me inside my head? I looked up at Merlin, who returned my questioning look with a slight smirk.

I'll explain that, too.